American baseball player (born 1969)
Baseball player
Damian Donald Miller
(born October 13, 1969) is an American former professional
baseball
catcher
. He won the
2001 World Series
with the
Arizona Diamondbacks
, beating the
New York Yankees
.
High school years
[
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]
Miller attended
West Salem High School
in
West Salem, Wisconsin
and was a student and a letterman in football,
basketball
and baseball. Miller graduated from West Salem High School in 1987.
College and professional years
[
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]
Miller attended
Viterbo University
in
La Crosse, Wisconsin
, and as a junior was named the
NAIA
District 14 Player of the Year and helped lead his team to the NAIA semifinals.
Miller is not a member of the
Major League Baseball Players Association
, as he was a
replacement player
during the
1994 Major League Baseball strike
. These players are barred from joining the players' union. His name also does not appear on any official commemorative merchandise from the Arizona Diamondbacks' 2001 World Series win.
Through his career, Miller has also played for the
Minnesota Twins
,
Arizona Diamondbacks
(winning the
2001 World Series
),
Chicago Cubs
and
Oakland Athletics
. In May 2000, he hit the first walk-off grand slam in the history of both
Chase Field
and the Diamondbacks, doing so in the bottom of the 12th inning against Orel Hershiser of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
[1]
In Game 7 of the 2001 World Series he played a pivotal role in the 9th inning comeback against closer
Mariano Rivera
. With no outs and pinch runner
David Dellucci
on first base he bunted an 0-1 pitch right back to Rivera, who then attempted to throw to
Derek Jeter
at second base. Jeter would get tangled up in the legs of Dellucci who slid to break up the double play.
Midre Cummings
then pinch ran for Miller after
Jay Bell’s
failed sacrifice bunt turned fielder's choice. Cummings would score the tying run in the bottom of the ninth before Arizona ultimately won the World Series. The
following year
, Miller was named to the
National League
All-Star team.
On June 27, 2007, in a home game against the
Houston Astros
, Miller hit his second career
walk-off home run
in the bottom of the 11th inning to win the game for the Brewers. It was his first home run of the 2007 season. The walk-off came on
La Crosse
Day at
Miller Park
.
[2]
In his next game, he recorded a franchise-tying seven
runs batted in
, which included a
grand slam
and a two-run
home run
.
[3]
After becoming a free agent after the 2007 season, Miller attracted interest from a couple of teams, but declined, saying the Brewers were the only team he wanted to play for.
[4]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Team Batting Event Finder: From 1925 to 2018, All Teams, Home Runs, Walk-off, For ARI, With Runners on 123"
.
Baseball Reference
. Retrieved
July 15,
2018
.
- ^
Home state hero connects with walk-off
, June 27, 2007
, retrieved
June 27,
2007
- ^
"Miller goes 4-for-5 as Brewers pound Pirates"
. July 2, 2007,
Associated Press
. Retrieved on July 2, 2007.
- ^
"Some familiar faces still looking for work"
. May 28, 2008,
Espn.com
. Retrieved on May 28, 2008.
External links
[
edit
]